Ceramic moulds were used to shape sugar during a process known as refinement. <a href='https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/116544.html' target='_blank'>Museum of London</a> (MoL) research shows that the capital’s first sugar refineries were established in the 1500s, when the trade began between Morocco and England. The sugar plant originally came from New Guinea and then spread through the Middle East. At first, Morocco was the main source of English sugar, traded for cloth and other goods by rich English merchants, and only the very wealthy were able to enjoy this luxurious treat. But by the end of the 1500s, the middling elite of English towns and cities were also taking part in this new consumer trend, and it was altering their tastebuds (and their teeth!) as sugared sweetmeats became important elements of middling dining culture on special occasions. Sugar was sold by grocers, and by the seventeenth century many of them used an image of the sugar mould as their symbol, incorporating it into the tokens that they issued to customers. <br /> <br /> The accounts of the Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon for January 1595 record the purchase of sugar over the Christmas period. A payment of 10s 4d was made to town aldermen Abraham Sturley and Richard Agne for ‘a present of sugar bought at Henry Walkers’ (SBT BRU/4/12). This sugar was likely purchased as a new year’s gift from the Corporation, so we can see its significance as a ‘luxury’ good to the status of the town and the middling men running it. <br /> <br /> Beyond the expansion in food consumption and international trade, the importation of sugar also shows a sinister side of mobility and trade in early modern England. The increased demand for oversees goods such as sugar and tobacco throughout the 1600s required a large workforce, and the transatlantic slave trade grew to facilitate Europe’s expanding consumer habits. Consequently, much of the wealth and enjoyment generated by these imported goods came at a huge and irreparable cost – from the creation of this sugar mould, it would be almost 200 years until slavery was finally abolished in England.
Sugar-loaf mould (Sugar-loaf mould), 1650-1680

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Sugar-loaf mould

Sugar-loaf mould (Sugar-loaf mould), 1650-1680

Ceramic moulds were used to shape sugar during a process known as refinement. Museum of London (MoL) research shows that the capital’s first sugar refineries were established in the 1500s, when the trade began between Morocco and England. The sugar plant originally came from New Guinea and then spread through the Middle East. At first, Morocco was the main source of English sugar, traded for cloth and other goods by rich English merchants, and only the very wealthy were able to enjoy this luxurious treat. But by the end of the 1500s, the middling elite of English towns and cities were also taking part in this new consumer trend, and it was altering their tastebuds (and their teeth!) as sugared sweetmeats became important elements of middling dining culture on special occasions. Sugar was sold by grocers, and by the seventeenth century many of them used an image of the sugar mould as their symbol, incorporating it into the tokens that they issued to customers.

The accounts of the Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon for January 1595 record the purchase of sugar over the Christmas period. A payment of 10s 4d was made to town aldermen Abraham Sturley and Richard Agne for ‘a present of sugar bought at Henry Walkers’ (SBT BRU/4/12). This sugar was likely purchased as a new year’s gift from the Corporation, so we can see its significance as a ‘luxury’ good to the status of the town and the middling men running it.

Beyond the expansion in food consumption and international trade, the importation of sugar also shows a sinister side of mobility and trade in early modern England. The increased demand for oversees goods such as sugar and tobacco throughout the 1600s required a large workforce, and the transatlantic slave trade grew to facilitate Europe’s expanding consumer habits. Consequently, much of the wealth and enjoyment generated by these imported goods came at a huge and irreparable cost – from the creation of this sugar mould, it would be almost 200 years until slavery was finally abolished in England.

Object Type Sugar-loaf mould
Year 1650-1680
Material Ceramic, earthenware
Owned By Museum of London 11687
Keywords consuming; processing; producing; importing; consumption; domestic; mobility; trade and exchange; race; London; ceramics; food/drink
Image Credit Sugar-loaf mould (1650-1680), ceramic, earthenware; Museum of London 11687. Reproduced with permission of and © Museum of London.

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